The Cowboys and Colts finished winless in the preseason. Should that be cause for concern?
Both of these teams have concerns, of course. The Cowboys might have the worst defense in the league. The Colts are the Sports Illustrated pick to make it to the Super Bowl, but they have offensive line issues, an average defense and no running game.
But is an 0-4 preseason in itself cause for concern?
Best I can tell is not really.
The Lions, after all, famously went undefeated in the preseason and then went 0-16 in the real games.
Picking through the old number, I see that 26 teams previously in this century have gone winless in the preseason.
Of those 26, seven won double-digit games. Seven finished with 8-8 records. And 12 finished with losing records.
So there’s a slight trend of a poor preseason being an indicator of a poor regular season, but nothing particularly significant.
Winless Preseason, Winning Records | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | W | L | T |
2005 | Indianapolis | 14 | 2 | 0 |
2008 | New England | 11 | 5 | 0 |
2010 | Chicago | 11 | 5 | 0 |
2005 | Kansas City | 10 | 6 | 0 |
2011 | Atlanta | 10 | 6 | 0 |
2009 | Arizona | 10 | 6 | 0 |
2010 | Indianapolis | 10 | 6 | 0 |
Winless Preseason, Finishing 8-8 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | W | L | T |
2006 | Pittsburgh | 8 | 8 | 0 |
2002 | Buffalo | 8 | 8 | 0 |
2009 | Carolina | 8 | 8 | 0 |
2013 | Pittsburgh | 8 | 8 | 0 |
2007 | Arizona | 8 | 8 | 0 |
2012 | NY Jets | 8 | 8 | 0 |
2011 | Oakland | 8 | 8 | 0 |
Winless Preseason, Losing Records | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | W | L | T |
2002 | St. Louis | 7 | 9 | 0 |
2011 | Kansas City | 7 | 9 | 0 |
2012 | Miami | 7 | 9 | 0 |
2012 | Buffalo | 6 | 10 | 0 |
2003 | Atlanta | 5 | 11 | 0 |
2003 | Houston | 5 | 11 | 0 |
2006 | Washington | 5 | 11 | 0 |
2009 | Kansas City | 4 | 12 | 0 |
2008 | Cleveland | 4 | 12 | 0 |
2007 | Kansas City | 4 | 12 | 0 |
2013 | Atlanta | 4 | 12 | 0 |
2004 | San Francisco | 2 | 14 | 0 |
—Ian Allan